Publications by authors named "Ivana Caputo"

Alkylphenols are byproducts of anthropogenic activities that widely contaminate waters, soils and air; among them, the most represented are 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) and 4-octylphenol (4-OP). These compounds tend to bioaccumulate in animal and plant tissues and also represent a risk to human health. Indeed, humans are constantly exposed to alkylphenols through ingestion of contaminated water and food, inhalation and dermal absorption.

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The present work focuses on the production of electrospun membranes based on Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) for the topical release of Quercetin (Q). Membranes were prepared at 0.5, 1.

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Fibrous membranes of polycaprolactone (PCL)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) encapsulating 15% wt of quercetin are fabricated by a uniaxial electrospinning technique. Morphological analysis of the electrospun systems proved the fabrication of micrometric fibers (1.58 µm for PCL/PVP and 2.

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Celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory intestinal disease caused by the ingestion of gluten-containing cereals by genetically predisposed individuals. Constitutive differences between cells from CD patients and control subjects, including levels of protein phosphorylation, alterations of vesicular trafficking, and regulation of type 2 transglutaminase (TG2), have been reported. In the present work, we investigated how skin-derived fibroblasts from CD and control subjects responded to thapsigargin, an endoplasmic reticulum ER stress inducer, in an attempt to contribute to the comprehension of molecular features of the CD cellular phenotype.

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L., a milkweed tropical plant belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae, is a rich source of unusual cardiac glycosides, characterised by transfused A/B rings and a sugar moiety linked by a double link, generating a dioxanoid structure. In the present report, five cardenolides isolated from the aerial parts of the plant (calactin, calotropin, 12β-hydroxycalactin, 12β,6'-dihydroxycalotropin, and 16α-hydroxycalotropin) were investigated for their biological effects on a human hepatocarcinoma cell line.

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Type 2 transglutaminase (TG2) is the main autoantigen in coeliac disease (CD), a widespread inflammatory enteropathy caused by the ingestion of gluten-containing cereals in genetically predisposed individuals. As a consequence, serum antibodies to TG2 represent a very useful marker in CD diagnosis. However, TG2 is also an important player in CD pathogenesis, for its ability to deamidate some Gln residues of gluten peptides, which become more immunogenic in CD intestinal mucosa.

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Mitochondrial impairments in dynamic behavior (fusion/fission balance) associated with mitochondrial dysfunction play a key role in cell lipotoxicity and lipid-induced metabolic diseases. The present work aimed to evaluate dose- and time-dependent effects of the monounsaturated fatty acid oleate on mitochondrial fusion/fission proteins in comparison with the saturated fatty acid palmitate in hepatic cells. To this end, HepG-2 cells were treated with 0, 10 μM, 50 μM, 100 μM, 250 μM or 500 μM of either oleate or palmitate for 8 or 24 h.

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4-Nonylphenol (4-NP) is an emerging environmental pollutant widely diffused in waters and sediments. It mainly derives from the degradation of alkyl phenol ethoxylates, compounds commonly employed as industrial surfactants. 4-NP strongly contaminates foods and waters for human use; thus, it displays a wide range of toxic effects not only for aquatic organisms but also for mammals and humans.

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Cocaine is one of the most widely used illicit drugs in the world, and as a result of incomplete removal by sewage treatment plants it is found in surface waters, where it represents a new potential risk for aquatic organisms. In this study we evaluated the influence of environmental concentrations of cocaine on the liver and the kidney of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). The eels were exposed to 20 ng L of cocaine for fifty days, after which, three and ten days after the interruption of cocaine exposure their livers and kidneys were compared to controls.

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Celiac disease (CD) is a common intestinal inflammatory disease involving both a genetic background and environmental triggers. The ingestion of gluten, a proteic component of several cereals, represents the main hexogen factor implied in CD onset that involves concomitant innate and adaptive immune responses to gluten. Immunogenicity of some gluten sequences are strongly enhanced as the consequence of the deamidation of specific glutamine residues by type 2 transglutaminase (TG2), a ubiquitous enzyme whose expression is up-regulated in the intestine of CD patients.

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Type 2 transglutaminase (TG2) is a ubiquitous enzyme able to modify gliadin peptides introduced into the organism through the diet. By means of its catalytic activity, TG2 seems to have an important pathogenetic role in celiac disease (CD), an inflammatory intestinal disease caused by the ingestion of gluten-containing cereals. A strong autoimmune response to TG2 characterizes CD development.

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Antimicrobial resistance is spreading massively in the world and is becoming one of the main health threats of the 21st century. One of the possible strategies to overcome this problem is to modify the known classes of antibiotics in a rational way, with the aim of tuning their efficacy. In this paper, we present the synthesis and the evaluation of the biological activity of a series of two β-lactam bearing cephalosporin derivatives, in which an additional isolated azetidinone ring, bearing different substituents, is joined to the classical cephalosporanic nucleus by a chain of variable length.

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Auto-antibodies to the ubiquitous enzyme type-2 transglutaminase (TG2) are a specific hallmark of celiac disease (CD), a widely diffused, multi-factorial disease, affecting genetically predisposed subjects. In CD an inflammatory response, at the intestinal level, is triggered by diet consumption of gluten-containing cereals. Intestinal mucosa displays various degrees of atrophy and hyperplasia, with consequent global intestinal dysfunction and other relevant extra-intestinal symptoms.

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The presence of illicit drugs in the aquatic environment represents a new potential risk for aquatic organisms, due to their constant exposure to substances with strong pharmacological activity. Currently, little is known about the ecological effects of illicit drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of environmental concentrations of cocaine, an illicit drug widespread in surface waters, on the skeletal muscle of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla).

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Helleborus caucasicus (Ranunculaceae) is an endemic plant of the Caucasian flora, widely distributed in West Georgia. Biological activities for the extracts of some Helleborus species including H. caucasicus have been reported.

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Alpha-gliadin peptide 31-43 is considered to be the main peptide responsible for the innate immune response in celiac disease patients. Recent evidence indicates that peptide 31-43 rapidly enters cells and interacts with the early endocytic vesicular compartment. However, the mechanism of its uptake is not completely understood.

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pH-sensitive vesicles used as drug delivery systems (DDSs) are generally composed of protonable copolymers. The disaggregation of these nanoparticles (NPs) during drug release implies the dispersion of positively charged cytotoxic polyelectrolytes in the human body. To alleviate such issue, we synthesised A(BC) amphiphilic block copolymers with linear (n = 1) and branched (n = 2) architectures to obtain pH-sensitive vesicles capable of releasing drugs in acidic conditions via controlled swelling instead of disaggregation.

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We present the synthesis and biological evaluation of the prototype of a new class of cephalosporins, containing an additional isolated beta lactam ring with two phenyl substituents. This new compound is effective against Gram positive microorganisms, with a potency similar to that of ceftriaxone, a cephalosporin widely used in clinics and taken as a reference, and with no cytotoxicity against two different human cell lines, even at a concentration much higher than the minimal inhibitory concentration tested. Additionally, a deep computational analysis has been conducted with the aim of understanding the contribution of its moieties to the binding energy towards several penicillin-binding proteins from both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria.

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Type 2 transglutaminase (TG2) has an important pathogenic role in celiac disease (CD), an inflammatory intestinal disease that is caused by the ingestion of gluten-containing cereals. Indeed, TG2 deamidates specific gliadin peptides, thus enhancing their immunogenicity. Moreover, the transamidating activity seems to provoke an autoimmune response, where TG2 is the main autoantigen.

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The release of antibiotics into the environment can result in antibiotic resistance (AR) spread, which in turn can seriously affect human health. Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been detected in different aquatic environments used as drinking water source. Water disinfection may be a possible solution to minimize AR spread but conventional processes, such as chlorination, result in the formation of dangerous disinfection by-products.

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The aim of this study was to verify if the freshwater safety values established from the European Community (1998) and the Italian Ministry of Health (2001) for cadmium (44.5nM/L in drinking water and 178nM/L in sewage waters) were safe for amphibians, since at these same concentrations cadmium induced endocrine disruption in the newt Triturus carnifex. Adult male specimens of T.

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Anti-idiotype antibodies have potential therapeutic applications in many fields, including autoimmune diseases. Herein we report the isolation and characterization of AIM2, an anti-idiotype antibody elicited in a mouse model upon expression of the celiac disease-specific autoantibody MB2.8 (directed against the main disease autoantigen type 2 transglutaminase, TG2).

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Background: Celiac disease is an inflammatory condition of the small intestine that affects genetically predisposed individuals after dietary wheat gliadin ingestion. Type 2-transglutaminase (TG2) activity seems to be responsible for a strong autoimmune response in celiac disease, TG2 being the main autoantigen. Several studies support the concept that celiac anti-TG2 antibodies may contribute to disease pathogenesis.

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We intended to verify the safety of the freshwater values established for cadmium by the European Community and the Italian Ministry of Health in drinking water (5 μg/L) and sewage waters (20 μg/L). Therefore, we chronically exposed the newt Triturus carnifex to 5 μg/L and 20 μg/L doses of cadmium, respectively, during 3 and 9 months and verified the effects on the adrenal gland. We evaluated the serum concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), corticosterone, aldosterone, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.

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Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an intestinal inflammatory condition that develops in genetically susceptible individuals after exposure to dietary wheat gliadin. The role of post-translational modifications of gliadin catalyzed by tissue transglutaminase (tTG) seems to play a crucial role in CD. However, it remains to be established how and where tTG is activated in vivo.

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